One of the application questions asked why Pier 9 would be essential to my work. It occurred to me as I was writing my answer that this was also a mini declaration on Make/Work spaces in general, and our studio environment in particular. I thought I’d share a snippet of it:

…I believe the ultimate value of Pier 9 does not lie in any particular tool—it is the combination of tools, work spaces, and people in close proximity that make it such a uniquely creative and productive environment. The process of ideating, designing, fabricating, and evaluating a project is very easily de-railed by minor inconveniences—the distance between the place where you think to the place where you build, running out of material, getting advice from a friend, troubleshooting a piece of equipment—and Pier 9 is this compact ecosystem where you can quickly move between these activities in a focused environment.

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…I’m also really looking forward to being a student again! I’m excited to learn from my colleagues, and to be able to bounce ideas off of people who come from very different backgrounds. I often collaborate across disciplines at my university, but I appreciate that Pier 9 is a “turf free zone” where everyone is new, everyone is an outsider, and time is short—creating an urgency of collaboration and intensity of production that elevates the work.

I hope you love our studio environment, you’re taking full advantage of the tools and people that it provides, and you’re contributing to that culture of collaboration and production. It’s a special thing that you might appreciate more in five, ten, or twenty years, and you may be trying to get back into it.